# Karen Joubert Cordier

Karen Joubert Cordier (born August 29, 1954) is a French-American artist.

## Early life

Joubert Cordier's father was a Compagnie Générale Transatlantique navy captain, and her mother was a model. Cordier explored the world and met many luminaries, including Coco Chanel, Charlie Chaplin, and Leopold, King of Belgium.

## Career

Upon completion of her studies at the Academy Charpentier in Paris, she was mentored by a famous art dealer, Daniel Cordier. Her first show was at the Gallery Beaubourg, Paris, and was followed by a permanent exhibition at the Georges Pompidou Museum.
One review suggests that Joubert Cordier has embraced the surrealist and disturbing side of Dalí, the colours of Le Douanier Rousseau, the technique of Arcimboldo, and the modernity of Robert Combas.

## Style

Her art draws on movements such as expressionism, fauvism, pointillism, postmodernism, and surrealism. She deals with themes of travel, nature, and plant life.
Joubert Cordier tends to use the entirety of her canvases.

## Collections

Le Dechainement de Vegetal (translation: the unbridled vegetation) is an accumulation of details of flowers and plants exploded by the use of fluorescent colours and freedom of composition.
Her L'Exotism series features canvases full of plants and animals.

### La Narrative Figurative

Joubert Cordier's paintings have been inspired by her travels. Being the daughter of the Chief Purser of the liner France has allowed her to cross the Atlantic Ocean 49 times. Additionally, she claims that each of her journeys is a "true source of inspiration". Her work typically starts on a point where she sketches cartoon-like images of days that pass by. These works are created in her workshop, and the collection can be subdivided into two genres:

#### French Prestige

This series draws on Joubert Cordier's travels as a child. These encounters marked a unique impression on her and have reinforced a unique vision in her illustrative work. Joubert Cordier translated her experiences with a collage of memories, from glamorous Europe to the wave of Pop art and icons of the time.

#### Romantic Rivera

This title greets the arrival of English and American residents in search of a quiet place at the beginning of the last century. It is the Golden age of "Cote d'Azure" that Joubert Cordier feels. She expresses this feeling in the colours of the quiet blue of the sea, the intense and warm red of the sun, and especially by Sienna dust, which stresses the romantic, nostalgic, and sometimes disturbing atmosphere of these subjects in black and white. In these peculiar settings, she introduces people who are the stars in business, movies, arts, and novels.

### Pop

Joubert Cordier's Pop collection is a reminiscence of the comic strips of childhood days, the American dream, and the chewing gum societies. From economic intelligence to Andy Warhol's Marilyn, from Mickey Mouse to Superman, from Norman Rockwell to Bill Gates, her world is colourful in pure pop art tradition.

## Collectors

Joubert Cordier's works are collected by the Georges Pompidou Museum in Paris, which houses the largest collection of modern art in Europe. Her works are also collected by many others, including former French Prime Minister Jean-Francois Girard, entertainer Elton John, and the Rockefeller Foundation.
Many of her paintings are now collected and showcased in national museums, including the Art Modern Museum in Toulouse, and are in the hands of international collectors.

## Exhibitions

2010
* Shanghai "My City Our Dreams" Gala Auction, Shanghai, China; 5 May
* Lifeline Express "The Beauty of Nature" Charity Painting Exhibition, Pacific Place, Hong Kong; 16 - 19 Apr
* Christine Gallery, Seoul, South Korea
2009
* Alife Fresco 7th Anniversary, Tokyo; 28 August
* Under the lime-light
* Street-view
* A life in the night-time
* Interior decoration
* Festival de Cannes; 20 May
* Le French May, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong; 1 – 7 May
* Speech for Joubert Cordier
* Joubert Cordier
* Opening of French May featuring KJC
* Galarie Marie Ricoo, Calvi; 11 – 30 April
* Les désordres du plaisir, Musée des abattoirs, Art Moden Museum, Toulouse (new donation Daniel Cordier); 24 Jan – 19 April
2008
* Hong Kong International Arts and Antiques Fair, Hong Kong
* Fresco on wall: CERAM Business School, Sophia Antipolis
* Museum of Perfume, Grasse
* Gallery Take 121, Nashville, USA
* Happy Art Gallery and Rotshield Bank, Cannes; 8 Oct
* Galerie Geraldine Zberro, Paris
* Galerie Onega, Paris
* Chicago Sister Cities International, Chicago, USA; 8 Oct
2007
* Galerie Pelissier, Nice
* Grand Hotel St. Jean cap, Ferrat
* Galerie de l’eveche, Vence
2006
* Raffles Museum, Singapore
* Ode to Art Gallery, Singapore
* Negresco Hotel, Nice
* Kieba Gallery, Vence
* Karement Karen College Nikide, St Phalle
2005
* Dream and Passion, Singapore
* French Affair with Singapore, Singapore
* Villa Durazzo, Santa Margarita, Italy
* Les Abattoirs, Art Modern Museum, Toulouse
* Beaubourg Gallery, Vence
* Negresco Hotel, Nice
* Château Ste Roseline, Draguignan
* Cultural Center, Roquefort les pins
2004
* Business Center, Nice Airport
* Galerie Loumani, Valbonne
2003
* La Verand’anne, Gstaad, Switzerland
* Referencing at Georges Pompidou Library
* Fifth Gallery, Paris
* Galerie de l’eveche, Vence
* SNCP Champs Elysees, Paris
2002
* Cultural Center, Roquefort les pins
* L’Abbaye, La Colle sur Loup
* Mas d’Artigny, Vence
2001
* Gallery Aurora (William), Shanghai, China
* Navy Museum, Le Havre
* Mas d’Artigny, Vence
* Negresco Hotel, Nice
* Tatina Tournemine Gallery, Paris
* Beaubourg Gallery, Vence
2000
* Chateau des fleurs, Marianne and Pierre Nahon, Vence
* L’Ile en terre Gallery, Vence
1991 - 1999
* 99: L’Abbaye, La Colle sur Loup
* 98: Chateau Str Roseline, Draguignan
* 98: Consulat du Canada, Chicago, USA
* 96: New Eastside Art Works, Chicago, USA
* 96: Nicole Gallery, Chicago, USA
* 94: Majestic Hotel, Cannes
1980 - 1990
* 89: Art Honction Nahon, Nice
* 88: Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris
* 87: Galerie Beaubourg, Paris
* 86: Henry Clew Foundation, Mandelieu
Permanent exhibitions
* Les Abattoirs, Art Modern Museum, Toulouse
* Georges Pompidou Centre, Paris
* Galerie Onega, Paris
* Navy Museum, Le Havre
* Galerie Marie Ricco, Calvi
* Happy Art Galerie, Cannes
* Ode de Art Gallery, Singapore

## Products

Karen x Feria Design Closet has produced a line of products, including perfume (in collaboration with Givenchy), handbags, pouches, keychains, and T-shirts.